INDIANA – Attorney General Todd Rokita announced that, at his direction and as part of a legal campaign he is leading, his office recently filed a motion for summary judgment in federal court seeking to end a 26-year legal battle and finally allow a donated historical monument to be placed on the Indiana Statehouse lawn.
The monument displays the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights, and the Preamble to the Indiana Constitution. A similar monument stood on the Statehouse grounds for more than 30 years until it was vandalized and damaged in 1991. The State accepted a replacement gifted by the Indiana Limestone Institute, but courts blocked its placement in 2000 under a 1971 Supreme Court decision that no longer stands.
“The Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights, and our state Constitution’s Preamble are foundational to the laws and liberties Hoosiers live under every day, and protecting those principles is exactly what my office works to do,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said. “After more than two decades of inaction by others, I am taking on this fight and pursuing this case because it is long past time to relocate and display this monument where it rightfully belongs, and we will continue working to ensure a small group of radical activists, backed by the ACLU, doesn’t prevent us from doing so.”
The original injunction was based on a 1971 Supreme Court decision that has since been rejected. More recent high-court decisions, including one upholding a Ten Commandments display at the Texas Capitol, now make clear that courts must evaluate monuments based on America’s long-standing history and traditions rather than that earlier standard. And as Attorney General Rokita’s brief explains, that heritage makes clear that States can publicly acknowledge the role of seminal texts like the 10 Commandments.
“We’re grateful Attorney General Rokita is taking on this important fight,” said Joseph Davis, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and an attorney for Indiana. “The Supreme Court has said time and again that states are free to acknowledge their full history and culture, including the parts that happen to be religious. We’re proud to stand with the Attorney General in supporting Indiana’s effort to continue that tradition.”
The monument remains in Bedford, Indiana, and would be placed near its original intended location on the Statehouse lawn.
Read the filing here.
